Governor Christie put oceanfront property owners on notice Tuesday, saying those who don’t give the state permission to build sand dunes on their land will be named publicly.

“We’re going to start calling these folks out in the next few weeks if they haven’t signed the easements to let us build the dunes because they need to be called out and they need to be told that there is something more important than their own self interests,” he said during a town hall-style event in Middlesex Borough.

The threat is Christie’s latest attempt to persuade private property owners to permit the Army Corps of Engineers to build sand dunes on their land. Christie said superstorm Sandy wiped out any argument against dunes, because communities with engineered beaches suffered significantly less damage than those without.

“I’m not going to put up with people that decide their view of the Atlantic Ocean is more important than the lives and the properties of their neighbors,” he said.

The governor hasn’t ruled out taking legal action to forcibly gain access to the land, but has said he’d rather use “gentle persuasion.” But Tuesday he said he’s working with mayors to compile lists of homeowners who have refused to sign easements. There is a May 1 deadline for homeowners to sign agreements, but Christie said he could seek an extension. The Army Corps of Engineers is set to start work on 130 miles of beaches that month. Christie said he expects the project to cost $3 billion.

He said state and local officials have been going property-by-property trying to convince owners to allow the dunes.

Last week during a town hall-style event in Manasquan, Christie said progress is being made. In Bay Head, 14 property owners who previously refused to sign easements have given the state permission to build the dunes, Christie said. He said Mantoloking residents are also signing on, but Ortley Beach property owners haven’t, even though that community was severely damaged.

When an Ortley Beach resident asked Christie during the Manasquan event what he could do to persuade people, the governor so he hasn’t ruled out the use of eminent domain to gain access to the land, but would like to avoid the lengthy legal process.

“Every dollar that I spend to do that, in rewarding homeowners who are being selfish, is money I can’t spend on victims who have been harmed and so I’m very reluctant to do that,” Christie said.

But at the same time, he said not engineering the beaches in Ortley is “unacceptable.”

“We’re just going to wind up in the same place or no one is going to rebuild there and it’s going to wind up being a ghost town,” Christie said in Manasquan.

During the Middlesex event Christie said he also hopes to use federal funds to buy out flood prone neighborhoods. He recently approved a proposal by the Department of Environmental Protection to use $250 million in federal funds for the buyouts. The federal government must sign off on the program.

When a high school student asked Christie if the storm changed his views on environmental initiatives, like a carbon tax on utility bills, which is meant to reduce emissions, he said it had not.

“I’m not going to make New Jersey even less competitive than it already is and put more regulations on corporations,” he said.

Christie stood by his 2011 decision to pull the state out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a program also aimed at controlling emissions.

Governor Christie put oceanfront property owners on notice Tuesday, saying those who don’t give the state permission to build sand dunes on their land will be named publicly.

“We’re going to start calling these folks out in the next few weeks if they haven’t signed the easements to let us build the dunes because they need to be called out and they need to be told that there is something more important than their own self interests,” he said during a town hall-style event in Middlesex Borough.

The threat is Christie’s latest attempt to persuade private property owners to permit the Army Corps of Engineers to build sand dunes on their land. Christie said superstorm Sandy wiped out any argument against dunes, because communities with engineered beaches suffered significantly less damage than those without.

“I’m not going to put up with people that decide their view of the Atlantic Ocean is more important than the lives and the properties of their neighbors,” he said.

The governor hasn’t ruled out taking legal action to forcibly gain access to the land, but has said he’d rather use “gentle persuasion.” But Tuesday he said he’s working with mayors to compile lists of homeowners who have refused to sign easements. There is a May 1 deadline for homeowners to sign agreements, but Christie said he could seek an extension. The Army Corps of Engineers is set to start work on 130 miles of beaches that month. Christie said he expects the project to cost $3 billion.

He said state and local officials have been going property-by-property trying to convince owners to allow the dunes.

Last week during a town hall-style event in Manasquan, Christie said progress is being made. In Bay Head, 14 property owners who previously refused to sign easements have given the state permission to build the dunes, Christie said. He said Mantoloking residents are also signing on, but Ortley Beach property owners haven’t, even though that community was severely damaged.

When an Ortley Beach resident asked Christie during the Manasquan event what he could do to persuade people, the governor so he hasn’t ruled out the use of eminent domain to gain access to the land, but would like to avoid the lengthy legal process.

“Every dollar that I spend to do that, in rewarding homeowners who are being selfish, is money I can’t spend on victims who have been harmed and so I’m very reluctant to do that,” Christie said.

But at the same time, he said not engineering the beaches in Ortley is “unacceptable.”

“We’re just going to wind up in the same place or no one is going to rebuild there and it’s going to wind up being a ghost town,” Christie said in Manasquan.

During the Middlesex event Christie said he also hopes to use federal funds to buy out flood prone neighborhoods. He recently approved a proposal by the Department of Environmental Protection to use $250 million in federal funds for the buyouts. The federal government must sign off on the program.

When a high school student asked Christie if the storm changed his views on environmental initiatives, like a carbon tax on utility bills, which is meant to reduce emissions, he said it had not.

“I’m not going to make New Jersey even less competitive than it already is and put more regulations on corporations,” he said.

Christie stood by his 2011 decision to pull the state out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a program also aimed at controlling emissions.